67 more B.C. COVID-19 cases, two more deaths in Vancouver region

B.C.’s total coronavirus cases has risen to 792, with 67 new cases and two deaths recorded on March 27.

“Every health region in British Columbia has patients with COVID-19,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a statement.

“We are saddened to report two more deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal health region. Our condolences to their loved ones during this difficult time.”

There are 391 cases in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 262 in the Fraser Health region, 57 in the Island Health region, 70 are in the Interior Health region and 12 are in the Northern Heath region.

Two additional long-term care homes in the Fraser Health region have staff with confirmed cases of COVID-19. They are The Harrison at Elim Village in Surrey and Chartwell Independent Living at Langley Gardens. In total, 11 long-term care homes in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Dix and Henry continued to emphasize the need for full effort to avoid personal contact outside families, including gatherings “of any size.” Modelling released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control earlier in the day showed B.C.’s restrictions making progress in slowing the coronavirus spread.

“We are tracking the epidemic curve closely here in B.C. We are also monitoring outbreaks in other nations to guide our health system preparations and public health response,” Dix and Henry said. “In the past few days, our upward path has been less severe than other places, but we continue to see steady increases in community transmission cases and continue to be concerned about outbreaks, which could quickly grow and challenge our pandemic response.”